Are you into self improvement? If so, here is a list of Quintessential Steps!

It’s no secret that people love when pieces of information are broken down into lists. To me personally, numbering these key points or leaving them bulleted makes no difference. But when data is fragmented into concise units, for the mind, it’s akin to the way we first chew food, to aid the body’s metabolism.

This all being true, I’d like to share a couple of tidbits I collected from an article titled “The Manager’s Cheat Sheet: 101 Common-Sense Rules for Leaders”. I found the piece as a whole extremely actionable and useful but would like to highlight my “six quintessential steps”, as they can be broadened into much more than just business tips:

1. Stand Tall: There have been countless psychology experiments done, on the correlation between posture and positive perception and I believe all of them. If you want to become big in any area, a huge part of that growth has to do with confidence and amplifying your self-image.

2. Stay Organized: Crucial in any aspect of life and to attain any desired outcome; organization can be your staunchest ally if you use order to your advantage.

3. Reward Hard Work: Although this is obvious when it comes to others, we too often overlook ourselves. I personally set goals in all arenas of life, and reward myself (usually by purchasing a used book, record or CD), accordingly.

4. Be Open to Constructive Criticism: Self-improvement relies heavily on stepping outside the self to gain another perspective. As a creative writer and SheBytes contributor, I’m actually excited about criticism, as it helps me improve.

5. Be Punctual: Never easy; the secret to controlling time is planning ahead and always allocating extra time for unforeseeable circumstances.

6. Identify the Positives: Idealism will lead you astray, pessimism will bring you down but realism will always set you on the right path. Realism is liberating, in that it’s more about being able to alter perspectives and knowing when to search for the silver lining, than about being stuck with the tangible.

As Bono, the singer and front man of U2 sings in “The Fly”; “It’s no secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest”. But the gift of humanity is the ability to empower that conscience and facilitate it, in order to control the self and consistently direct it towards greater things.

Jesse Braunstein is a Junior at NYU double majoring in Economics and Psychology. Jesse joined Madison Technology and SheBytes.com in May 2011 as a summer intern. Jesse has been instrumental in utilizing his expanding background to come up with creative perspectives on the Marketing, Advertising and Business Development initiatives at both Madison Technology and SheBytes.com. Jesse’s outlook stems from an Economics and Psychology education and a deep understanding of the individual and how the individual acts within and interacts with the market. Follow Jesse on Twitter and Facebook. Check out his About.me.

There’s a phobia of phobias… in fact, there is a phobia list… no kidding! I’m of the school of thought that fears are but a big joke; an illusion, if you will. In fact, I think fears are nothing more than an indication of exactly what you must overcome to have a more fulfilled life.

I quite enjoy this quote from Robin Sharma, because I think it sums up my sentiment nicely:

All that being said, there exists a fear of just about everything. No kidding. As illogical as some of them may sound, there’s even a website dedicated to listing every fear under the sun (even those above the sun). The site is called PhobiaList.com. Here are but of the few super wild phobias that have been named and documented by science.

Domatophobia- Fear of houses or being in a house (Eicophobia, Oikophobia)

Octophobia – Fear of the figure 8

Plutophobia- Fear of wealth

Xerophobia- Fear of dryness

Pentheraphobia- Fear of mother-in-law (Novercaphobia)

And here is my personal favorite:

Panophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everything

So if your greatest fear is public speaking, be grateful! Some people fear everything.

What is the most dangerous question on earth? The answer is in this inspiring segment by Bryan Franklin, one of the world’s most successful executive coaches. Every entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur must watch!